NITA AGARWAL shares her understanding of chapter 2 of the Bhagavad Gita, in a series of articles. Chapter 2 is the most important chapter of the Gita. This is the first article in the series, which will appear in our section, Practical Spirituality, on Saturday.
In the second chapter, Lord Krishna begins to share his wisdom with his disciple Arjun on the battle field of Kurukshetra. It covers briefly the entire knowledge that is contained in the 18 chapters of the Gita.
The second chapter begins with Sanjay describing the battle scene to King Dhritarashtra, explaining how the very thought of war with family members has made Arjun’s condition pitiable and his eyes and heart are filled with grief and despair.
With the armies of both sides having occupied the battle-ready position, avoiding the war was impossible except, perhaps, for Dhritarahstra. Being the king, he could have called off the war by offering a peace treaty to the Pandavas, but he chose to ignore Sanjay’s words about the mental condition of Arjun.
Sanjay tells Dhritarashtra how Arjun out of love and respect for his cousins and elders, did not want to fight the war. However, Dhritarashtra ignored Arjun’s sentiments because he was too attached to his sons and probably wanted the war to ensure that their right to the kingdom remained undisputed.
Lord Krishna asks Arjun why had he suddenly developed compassion for his cousins on the battlefield when he had prepared and planned to fight the dharma-yudha. It was not the appropriate time for a warrior to develop attachment and fear, while facing the enemy. Lord Krishna, therefore, asks Arjun to give up such delusional thoughts and fight like a warrior, as he would neither gain glory of kingdom nor fame if he harboured such cowardly thoughts.
Arjun defends his state of mind by saying that he could not throw firearms at his respected Pitamah, Bhishma or his Guru Dronacharya. Any victory sullied in the blood of loved ones would neither allow him to relish the pleasures of a kingdom nor gain the blessings of the Devatas. It would be better to beg for food than fight with one’s loved ones, moaned Arjun. Though standing on the battlefield, he continued to lament the folly of waging a war.
If we analyse Arjun’s dilemma, we will see that it stems from his focus on the outcome of war. He is not focussed on the cause and purpose of the war, but on the result. He believes that bloodshed on the battlefield will not let him rejoice the victory, if any, forgetting the injustice done by the Kauravas.
Attachment to relatives and focussing on the outcome of the war made Arjun confused and helpless. But after all the lamenting, he surrendered before Lord Krishna, saying that he is His student and would, therefore, do as the Lord wished, as he, himself, had lost the ability to take any decision wisely. His state of mind was so vulnerable that he said that he was not even sure of winning the war.
Arjun’s predicament carries valuable lessons in life for us humans. When we are faced with similar critical situations in life, we too lose our sense of balance and feel incapable of taking the right decision.
This confusion and indecisiveness happens because we are forever seeking a favourable outcome of any action we take. We want to enjoy the fruits of our labour without any guilt. We feel exhausted with our own self-centred thoughts and helplessness sets in.
In such a crisis, it is best to surrender to God Almighty to guide us on the right path. When we surrender whole-heartedly, we always get the answers we seek. This is what exactly happened in the Battle of Kurukshetra.
Arjun after giving vent to the thoughts and doubts assailing his mind, lays down his bow and arrow at the feet of Lord Krishna. And it is while he is in this total state of surrender that the Truth of Life is revealed by Lord Krishna to Arjun.
When we surrender unconditionally, we get the answers to all our dilemmas. Surrender is the base of Bhakti Yoga.
The first 10 verses of chapter 2 are about the mental struggle of Arjun as he feels helpless and finally surrenders at the Lotus feet of Lord Krishna to know and understand what he should do.
Note from the author: These articles are based on a commentary on the Holy Geeta by Swami Chinamayananda and discussions during study classes run by Swamiji’s followers that I attended.
Nita Agarwal is an ex-Table Tennis State player, qualified teacher, self-taught budding painter and a successful blogger, who writes about her observations of life and people; most importantly, she describes herself as a working housewife.
Featured Image: Rath at Braham Sarovar temple in Kurukshetra
So happy to read this Nitaji! May God and Gurudev shower his blessings on you always and may your pen continue to flow:)
Thank you so much dear Gitanjali! Your guidance in learning the message of Gita is very helpful and of course reading Holy Geeta by Gurudev blesses us wisdom.
In my view, it is very important to understand what surrender really means. As Nita Agarwalji says, it has to be unconditional. What it means is that our mind set while surrendering should not be that God will bring solutions to my problems just because I have surrendered to Him. But rather, I give up all my conditioned ideas of good / bad, desirable / undesirable and firmly acknowledge that the Divine knows the best and that I should not be judging and labeling anything, much less desiring anything as per my limited bodily identity and the associated conditioning.
Well said Kishorji ! My first understanding of Gita started with your posts in ST 🙂
Indescribable is the glory of Srimad Bhagavad Gita, which is a dialogue between man and God incarnate, in the centre space of life’s battle.
This as such is all that we seek when life perplexes us with an existential question, which poses itself as a dilemma of irreconcilable opposites, more so, when no saviour is at our sight and no solution in our head and hand.
Divinity as sheer gracefulness only comes to our rescue then, in the shape of a sincere adviser and a concerned friend.
And the tricky part of it is that, until we reach the height and depth of complete maturation, any advice, even by the divine saviour remains shrouded in a state of ambiguity and we fail to comprehend.
Even Arjuna asks Lord Krishna:
ज्यायसी चेत्कर्मणस्ते मता बुद्धिर्जनार्दन ।
तत्किं कर्मणि घोरे मां नियोजयसि केशव ॥
If you hold knowledge above action, why oh Lord, you are asking me to get engaged in such a terrible action?
It is here that the need of complete rendering of one’s entire individuality, पूर्ण समर्पण is required to enter the realm of understanding and then the resolution of a question, that stares us at point blank. Complete Surrender is indeed, to that end, the very first step.
Thank you Nita ji, for initiating this beautiful discussion which concerns equally all of us. हरि ॐ ??
Very nicely presented